


Crossing the Wires

by cctinsley



Category: Iron Man (Movies), Marvel Cinematic Universe, The Avengers (Marvel Movies)
Genre: BLEASE JUST SLEEP TONY, Bruce is a bro, Can be read as gender neutral, Explosions, F/M, Gen, Hurt/Comfort, I really hate this fic lmao, Probably ooc, Reader-Insert, This was just some stupid self indulgent shit, Tony Stark Needs Sleep, bad science talk, but was written with a female reader in mind, disclaimer: im not a scientist, hurt!reader, idk what else to tag, slash engineer
Language: English
Status: Completed
Published: 2018-06-08
Updated: 2018-06-08
Packaged: 2019-05-19 21:03:03
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 1
Words: 1,561
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/14881154
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/cctinsley/pseuds/cctinsley
Summary: In which Tony doesn't listen.





	Crossing the Wires

**Author's Note:**

> reader inserts are just for me to live vicariously through  
> this is pretty cringey but I had fun writing it :)  
> im bad at writing paragraphs longer than like 2 sentences  
> I also posted this on tumblr ages ago so if you see it there that's why

“Hey, Tony.” You greeted the man as you walked into the lab. 

He didn’t look up from the hunk of metal sitting before him, but he waved and said, “Hey.” Accentuated with a yawn. No surprise there, he probably hasn’t had a wink of sleep in 24 hours. Probably more, knowing Tony. He’s always been a man of his work.

“You should probably go to bed, even for a quick nap.” You advised him. Tony staying up for days at a time was no new feat, but you often worried for him. Especially since this was normal for him. He scratched his goatee.

“I crashed like 2 hours ago and downed a Red Bull.” As if that would please you.

“Yet you’re still awake. You look both like shit and like you need to go to an actual bed.” He sighed, suddenly dropping the spanner and leaning back in his chair, a look of annoyance evident on his handsome features. 

“Yeah, thanks but I’m gonna have to decline, sweetheart. This prototype won’t build itself.” He went back to poking at the wires inside of the metal container.

“Tony, you seriously have all the time in the world. It won’t kill – don’t cross the live wire with the blue one – it won’t kill you to nap for a couple of hours.” He clenched his jaw at your words.

“Don’t you have a Banner to pester? Somewhere that’s not in my lab?” Tony tried to place your attention elsewhere. 

“Bruce is on a coffee run, which I will be confiscating as soon as he comes back. I swear, if you consume anymore coffee you’ll explode.”

“That’s not how biology works, (Y/N).” 

“You’re not even a biologist, Stark.” 

“Neither are you.” 

Touché.

“Tony-“ You started.

Tony interrupted. He stood up abruptly, his hands slammed down on the counter top and his chair spun backwards. He moved the prototype to the side, “(Y/N) just leave! Leave me alone! I know what I’m doing, I know what I’m capable of doing!” Tony’s eyes were wide, and he was breathing heavily. The prototype rattled quite violently.

You took a step back, “I-I’m sorr-“

“You’re sorry? For what?” His voice was raising in volume, his tone becoming angrier with each word. You knew he was just agitated and this outburst was just because of the lack of sleep, but you were still shocked. You took a step back.

“Jesus, (Y/N), can you just fucking leave me alone for once?” You started to tear up, having never been any good at holding yourself together when arguments broke out. The prototype on the counter let out a small spark. That didn’t look good. 

“I don’t need to fucking sleep, I’m FINE!” He continued his shouting, but your attention was elsewhere. The prototype began to spark more and more, and smoke slowly seeped out through the side vents. It rattled more and more, but Tony didn’t notice at all. 

“Tony…” You tried to get his attention, getting increasingly worried.

Rattle.

“Just leave, can you do that? The door’s right. Over. There.” He pointed to the door as if you were a child.

Rattle. Spark. 

“Tony!” You shouted urgently.

Rattle. Spark.

“WHAT?” He shouted back. It looked to be too late. The smoke was turning black, sparks emitting faster than before. The rattling silenced.

Now Tony noticed.

“Get down!” You pushed the prototype further away, then ran towards Tony, tackling him so that he fell behind another counter. You tried to follow, but before you could join  
Tony, it exploded. 

You were hit square in the chest by a large piece of metal, likely from the prototype itself. The blast sent you flying until you hit the far wall of the lab with a thud. Tony watched in horror as you fell to the floor, his ears were ringing from the volume of the explosion, and he was pretty sure something had hit his head as well as crushed his hand. But only one thought was running through his head as he staggered towards you, “Please don’t be dead, (Y/N), oh god please be alive.”

You were struggling to breathe as you lay on your side. Your vision was blurred but you could make out a figure stumbling toward you, flames burning brightly in the background. 

“Tony.” You managed to cough out.

He fell to his knees beside you and checked your pulse before cradling your face in his hands. “I’m here, I-I’m here and- oh god, (Y/N), stay with me! I’m so fucking sorry,” he choked out, pleading with you. His eyes scoured your body for injuries. He could easily see blood seeping through your white shirt on your chest, and then the cut above your left eyebrow. He could also feel something warm and damp in his hand where he cradled the back of your head.

You groaned, and your vision seemed to get even worse. You couldn’t hear anything other than the loud, annoying ringing in your ears. You didn’t even notice Bruce or Steve bursting through the door to your aid. The last thing you remember before blacking out completely was Tony passing out at your side, still holding your head protectively. 

~~~

The next time you woke, you were in a hospital bed. Tony was keeled over in a chair by your side, holding your left hand in his as he slept. You subconsciously gave it a small squeeze. Bruce was standing at the end of your bed, looking over your hospital records. You managed to make a small sound, loud enough to grab the attention of Bruce.  
His head snapped up, and seeing that you were awake, gave a small smile and made his way quickly over to your side. He poured a cup of water for you, one which you were extremely grateful for as your mouth had a terrible taste and your throat was as dry as a desert. 

“How are you feeling?” He asked softly.

“Like hell,” you replied. Your head was killing you and you had a dull pain in your chest. You looked to Bruce, silently asking what had happened.

“I’m overseeing your recovery, but first can you tell me what happened?”

“Tony’s prototype exploded,” you said matter-of-factly. 

“Okay, it’s a good sign that you remember that. Now, you were put into a short medically induced coma for 4 days, so it’s currently Tuesday. You had a small concussion from hitting the back of your head which is healing nicely, and we stitched up the cut above your eyebrow, but the trouble was in your chest.” Bruce explained. “Shrapnel from the explosion hit you, so you were in surgery for 7 hours to remove it.”

Your eyes widened, “I’m not going to have to get an Arc Reactor now, right?” 

Bruce chuckled, “No, no, they were successful in removing all of it, so just be careful with the stitches in your chest, but you should also be quite sore from the broken ribs.”  
You sighed, “At least I’m alive… How’s Tony?” You asked as Bruce made his way over to Tony’s side. 

“Ask him yourself,” he said before pushing the man’s shoulder and leaving the room quietly with a sincere smile and wave in your direction. 

Tony woke with a start. He sat up in the chair when he noticed that you were awake, rubbing calming circles with his thumb on the palm of your hand. He gave a small, sad smile, “How are you feeling?” His voice was hoarse, and his eyes were slightly red. You noticed how his right hand was in a cast and sling, and how the side of his face was turning from purple to a yellow colour from a bad bruise. 

“Like shit, I’ll ask Bruce to pump up the morphine. How are you?” 

Tony paused, “Better. Lab’s totalled, right hand’s broken, and I got one hell of a shiner here.” He motioned to the bruise on his face.

“Tony-“

“(Y/N), I need to apologise.”

“For interrupting me so often?” 

“No. Well, that too, but for what happened.” He paused and took a deep breath. “I’m so sorry for how I yelled at you then, you just wanted me to be healthy and I appreciate it, I really do. No one’s ever gone as far as what you did, and added to the tiredness and frustration of the stupid goddamn prototype not working, I just snapped. I really don’t fucking deserve you, and you deserve so much better.” 

“Tony, I understand.” You gave his hand a comforting squeeze, it wasn’t often Tony Stark apologised. You think this was the first time he had ever outright apologised to you.

“I get if you don’t wanna forgive me, but honestly, in the lab, I thought you were dead the moment you hit the wall. I don’t know what I would have done with myself if you had died and the last thing I said to you was to leave me alone.” You could see tears forming in his eyes.

“Hey, I’m alive, aren’t I? And why wouldn’t I forgive you, Tony? I love you.”

He looked you in the eyes and smiled, “And I you, (Y/N).”

You settled into a comfortable silence, watching whatever shit-show was on the hospital television.

“You crossed the live wire with the blue one, didn’t you?”


End file.
